Electronic antihemocoagulation.

The purpose of this study is to determine if the volume conduction of electrical current by blood can extend or possibly prevent clotting, and if so to determine where in the clotting sequence the effects occur. The important aspects of these based as follows: All cells and surfaces of the body carry an electrical charge. The magnitude of this surface charge is determined not only by the characteristics of the cells and particles themselves, but also by the liquid or solid in which they are immersed. The majority of the particles within the blood are negatively charged. Although the intima of the vascular system is negatively charged with respect to the adventitia of the vessel, trauma to the vessel will cause the negative charge to become zero or positive with a concomitant thrombosis at that point. An incision into a vessel will result in a positive voltage at the injury site. If the incision is kept negatively charged through application of an electrical current, coagulation at the site will be inhibited and the wound will ooze for many hours. If the current is reversed and made positive, clotting will accelerate. In the laboratory when two oppositely charged electrodes were cemmersed in a beaker of blood, a clot formed at the positive electrode only. If the procedure is carried out correctly, the blood surrounding the negative electrode will have highly effective anticoagulant properties. Furthermore, under similar conditions, leucocytes will migrate toward the negative electrode, thus indicating a change in cell polarity from negative to positive, possibly as a means to combat inflammation. A special bridge circuit and several original test cell designs were developed. Some of the results of this research are as follows: a means to electronically detect coagulation was devised; clotting was extended in excess of 400% by the application of electrical currents; currents below one milliamp per cm2 would not cause any noticeable trauma to the blood as determined by routine clinical laboratory methods. Analysis of the saline compartments resulted in the conclusion that there had not been any migration of the blood components into the saline. However, since the pore size would prohibit the migration of the blood components into the saline.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Interaction of Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633 and Bacteriophage gh-1 in Berea Sandstone Rock.

Measurements of the passage of Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633 and a phage-resistant mutant through Berea sandstone rock were made. When bacteriophage gh-1 was adsorbed within the rock matrix, a reduction in the passage of the susceptible but not the resistant cells through the rock was observed.

Interaction of Escherichia coli B and B/4 and Bacteriophage T4D with Berea Sandstone Rock in Relation to Enhanced Oil Recovery.

Much research and development is needed to recover oil reserves presently unattainable, and microbially enhanced oil recovery is a technology that may be used for this purpose. To address the problem of bacterial contamination in an oil field injection well region, we connected each end of a Teflon-sleeved Berea sandstone rock to a flask containing nutrient medium. By inoculating one flask with Escherichia coli B, we could observe bacterial growth in the uninoculated flask resulting from the transport and establishment of cells across the rock. Differences in bacterial populations occurred depending on whether bacteriophage T4D was first adsorbed to the rock. The results of these experiments indicate that the inhibition of bacterial establishment within a rock matrix is possible via lytic interaction. Some nonlytic effects are also implied by experiments with B/4 cells, which are T4D-resistant mutants of E. coli B. A 10 to 40% retention of T4 by the rock occurred when it was loaded with 10 to 10 PFU. We also describe a lysogenic system for possible use in microbially enhanced oil recovery techniques.

Selection of bacteria with favorable transport properties through porous rock for the application of microbial-enhanced oil recovery.

This paper presents a bench-scale study on the transport in highly permeable porous rock of three bacterial species-Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas putida, and Clostridium acetobutylicum-potentially applicable in microbial-enhanced oil recovery processes. The transport of cells during the injection of bacterial suspension and nutrient medium was simulated by a deep bed filtration model. Deep bed filtration coefficients and the maximum capacity of cells in porous rock were measured. Low to intermediate ( approximately 10/ml) injection concentrations of cellular suspensions are recommended because plugging of inlet surface is less likely to occur. In addition to their resistance to adverse environments, spores of clostridia are strongly recommended for use in microbial-enhanced oil recovery processes since they are easiest among the species tested to push through porous rock. After injection, further transport of bacteria during incubation can occur by growth and mobility through the stagnant nutrient medium which fills the porous rock. We have developed an apparatus to study the migration of bacteria through a Berea sandstone core containing nutrient medium.

Enhanced dissolution of oil shale by bioleaching with thiobacilli.

Oil shale was subjected to bioleaching by cultures of thiobacilli. From X-ray, electron microprobe, and thin-section petrographic analysis, the shale matrix was found to contain tightly bonded carbonate minerals. When subjected to the bioproduced acids, these carbonate minerals were removed successively from the shale matrix. This process created pits and cavities which were gradually enlarged as indicated by scanning electron micrographs of samples subjected to leaching for varying lengths of time. At the end of 14 days, essentially all available carbonates had been depleted from the solid matrix. The effected increase in porosity and permeability of the oil shale then enhanced the exposure of fuel precursors, thus facilitating their production and conversion.

Degradation of oil shale by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.

Approximately 40% of oil shale can be solubilized by the action of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. Thiobacillus thiooxidans and Thiobacillus concretivorous are equally effective in solubilization. Continuous leaching experiments show that this process can be completed within 14 days. The growth of Thiobacillus and the production of acid were measured under several conditions. Almost all of the CaMg(CO(3))(2) was removed by this process, leaving a complex of silica and kerogen that could be burned as low-energy fuel. The silica-kerogen complex had not yet been biologically degraded.

Fluorometric examination of a lunar sample.

We have been unable to detect porphyrins in 13 grams of the bulk fine lunar sample from the Sea of Tranquillity under conditions in which less than 10-(1J) mole per gram of lunar sample could have been detected. By appropriate extraction, however, the lunar sample yields a material which exhibits absorption maxima at 310 and 350 nanometers and a fluorescence maximum at 410 nanometers.